Word Origin & History

ring O.E. hring "circular band," from P.Gmc. *khrengaz (cf. O.N. hringr, O.Fris. hring, Ger. Ring), lit. "something curved," from PIE base *(s)ker- "to turn, bend" (cf. L. curvus "bent, curved," crispus "curly;" O.C.S. kragu "circle," and perhaps Gk. kirkos "ring," koronos "curved"). Meaning "place for prize fight and wrestling bouts" (early 14c.) is from the space in a circle of bystanders in which such contests were once held (ringside is attested from 1866). Meaning "combination of interested persons" is from 1829. The verb meaning "to make a circle around" is O.E. ymbhringan. The circus ringmaster ...is recorded from 1873. Tree ring is from 1670s; fairy ring is from 1620s. Nursery rhyme ring a ring a rosie, is attested in an American form (with a different ending) from c.1790. "The belief that the rhyme originated with the Great Plague is now almost universal, but has no evidence to support it and is almost certainly nonsense" ["Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore"]. This connection only dates to the 1960s.